John Buckley is hoping January can be the month that reignites his Blackburn Rovers career after a difficult 18 months.
The midfielder is enjoying his best run in the team since John Eustace came in, after having to bide his time for a Championship start. He was named in the league XI for the first time against Portsmouth and has begun the following two games.
It is an injury crisis that has opened the door for Buckley, once an automatic name on the team sheet. But the form of Lewis Travis and Sondre Tronstad has kept him waiting in the wings.
Had Travis, and now subsequently Tronstad, not picked up hamstring problems, than January would've looked a lot different for the 25-year-old. He is at the stage of his career where he needs games.
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"It's difficult. Obviously, I'm a professional footballer, I want to be playing football. But obviously, circumstances are different," he said reflecting on whether he could have moved this month.
"I knew I could get an opportunity, it's just I've got to grasp it with both hands. I think I've done well so far since I've come in the last few games. I haven't played much previous to that, just been coming off the bench for 25 minutes.
"But yeah, I just need to keep building on it. I think Trav and Sonny have done really well. We've been really, really good. They've performed well, things like that.
"So I've just got to be patient and I've been obviously supporting them all throughout the season, showing a good attitude, always helping them. Yeah, it's just, obviously, it's been frustrating, the way I play. I know there's loads I can bring to the team and the club and things like that.
"But you've just got to be patient and show 100 per cent every day, keep a good attitude. That's just the main thing, keep supporting the lads."
The last two seasons have not gone to plan. Since Tony Mowbray left, Buckley has been quite unfortunate in some aspects, whilst in others, he might reflect inwards.
A knee injury at Stoke took four months away from him, when he was finding his best rhythm. The emergence of Adam Wharton saw him slip down Jon Dahl Tomasson's pecking order, resulting in a disastrous loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday. That was ended by a shoulder injury which required surgery.
Buckley admits it has been a difficult period in his career. He's been at Rovers for 19 years, having walked through the doors aged six.
"You've just got to try and stay positive through it all. It's probably not ideal," he conceded.
"Everyone wants to play every week and things like that. I'm trying to think it's my path, it's not going to be smooth. But yeah, I think it's put me in good stead mentally and the ups and downs, things like that.
"I think I've seen Harry Pickering the other day saying about his knee and it could have been a lot worse. You've just got to see things like that.
"I'm getting on for 20 minutes and I do well, it's another championship appearance. People do all sorts of things, you've just got to see the positives in things. But yeah, I want to start and I want to help the club get to the play-offs and perform as much as I can because I know I can help the team.
"I love it here. I've been here since I was six and I'm 25 now, it's 19 years of my life coming into the same building every day.
"So I want to do well, I want everything to work out but it's just football, things change, you've just got to stay patient."
Buckley has seen several iterations of Rovers squads come close but miss out on the top-six. How does he rate their chances this time around?
"I definitely think we've got more experience now in the squad," he said.
"There are a few lads who've obviously had promotions, people who have been in the play-offs and know what it takes. Obviously, there are a lot of things that affect us during the season, us winning games, but I think it puts us in good stead in the final push definitely.
"Like I said, ideally we want to be in the play-offs, so that's what we're going to try and do. It's definitely a great opportunity.
"There are obviously teams around us as well from a similar point of view, but I don't see why we can't. I don't see it too different to the last couple of years to be fair, obviously, we're in the same position, it's just we've got to take our chances and win as many games as we can really.
"Especially at the start of the season, people were not respecting us and things like that and I totally agree. And to be where we are in the league at this stage of the season, it's a credit to everyone really.
"But there's no point being here now, we've just got to carry on."
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